There are parts of rural Idaho that sound exactly like this record. I’m listening to Ah Holly Fam’ly’s, Reservoir, and it sounds really, really full and yet spacious at the same time. Idahoan/Portland transplants, Becky Dawson, Jeremy Faulkner, and company paint a picture of their homeland that sounds exactly like how a drive through Idaho can feel. It’s gorgeous! This album is filled with strings, and flutes, and soft, beautifully executed harmonies. The troupe’s meticulously arranged vocals can put you at ease in one breath and make you feel so forlorn in the next. Reservoir sounds one part folk record, with some hillsy M. Ward and Sufjan Stevens influence mixed in as well.
The albums lead track, “Young Veins”, starts with a good mixture of male/female voices blending together before the song takes on a more playful, upbeat feel when the drums come in. “Loneliest City” is a song where two ladies voices are singing ahh’s together, then swirl around in ooh’s, while beautifully finger picked acoustics and violins swoop in, amidst a pattern of vocals flooding in on the the verse, which just makes you start nodding your head to the sound.
This is a record for fans of early Saturday morning bike rides, or lazy Sundays drives. It is a fundamentally classic folk record at its core, dovetailed with an undeniably fresh approach. Like Fleet Foxes, Horse Feathers, and other contemporaries whom have traveled back in time to reinvent a sound from the past, Ah Holly Fam’ly’s new record is a welcome sound to both Portland and anyone who’s ever been through Idaho.
Here’s a couple tracks from the new record:
Ah Holly Fam’ly – All Unfolding
You can catch Ah Holly Fam’ly live and in person at the 2009 MusicFest NW. They’ll be performing at Berbati Pan on September 17th with Dirty Three, Norfolk and Western and Tu Fawning, at what should be a most fantastic show.
Here’s the show poster, immortalizing local Zipster (Zombie Hipster), Lee Cohen, forever in pink ink. The poster, by Portland artist Casey Burns, is currently on display with several other MusicFest NW show posters at Backspace.
Post by Ryan Johnston | Team Marmoset
